No Bake Chocolate Brownie Energy Bites

Low carb chocolate brownie energy bites that are easy to make and require no oven! These no bake, sugar-free and grain-free treats are full of healthy fats and protein. This post is sponsored by Safest Choice Eggs.

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. And that which we call an energy bite would taste just as delicious were it to be called an energy ball. Or a protein bite. Or a protein ball. Or perhaps a protein truffle. Does it matter what I call it if it’s easy to make, full of healthy fats and protein and tastes like a chocolate brownie? Well…maybe. Many such similar things are called protein balls or energy balls. But I just couldn’t. It sounded too…ballsy. And truffles sounded too dessert-y, too sweet and perhaps a little too sophisticated. So “bites” it was – conjuring up images of cute, bite-sized, fun to eat treats. But the reality is that it hardly matters what you call these. They would taste just as good by any other name.

For as long as I’ve been blogging about food, I’ve seen recipes for healthy energy balls/bites/truffles on the inter webs and been intrigued. It seemed almost too good to be true, a little bite-sized ball of deliciousness, promising to be healthy and offering a quick energy boost. And mostly they were too good to be true, because although they wouldn’t be full of refined sugar, they were typically made with dates or honey and packed full of oats or other grains. So the energy came mostly in the form of carbs. and that’s just not my kind of energy. And if you’re a regular follower of this blog, chances are that’s not your kind of energy either!

The problem with making these little energy bites without dates or honey or some other sticky, sugary ingredient is getting them to actually stick together. I knew adding an egg would help, but I didn’t want to have to bake them at all. It occurred to me that the crust from my low carb Nanaimo Bars would be a really great starting place for a chocolate energy ball. It does take an egg and as always when I am concerned about uncooked eggs in my food, I turned to Safest Choice pasteurized eggs. I also added some whey protein powder to up the protein content a little further, and used coconut oil in place of the butter. I found that the coconut oil made the mixture quite greasy when I was rolling out the balls, but it reabsorbed as they sat for a bit. I also dipped some of the balls in chocolate and left some as they were.

Oh my, these little bites/balls/truffles are delicious! They took all of about 20 minutes to come together and they really did taste like brownies. The chocolate dipped version were definitely a little more decadent and dessert-like, whereas the plain energy bites were like a quick little snack. My kids adored them and I will definitely be making them again.

In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter or coconut oil. Stir in cocoa powder and sweetener, then whisk in egg and cook over low 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, shredded coconut, protein powder, chopped nuts and coconut flour. Stir into saucepan until well combined.

Using about a tablespoon at a time, roll mixture into balls with your hands and lay on prepared baking sheet. You should get about 24 balls. Set baking sheet in the freezer.

Chocolate Coating:

Set a small metal or ceramic mixing bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water.

Melt chocolate and butter or oil together until melted.

One at a time, drop frozen energy bites into chocolate and coat well. Use a fork to lift out and gently tap the fork on the side of the bowl to remove excess chocolate. Set back on waxed paper lined baking sheet. Let set.

Recipe Notes

Makes 24. For the un-dipped balls, each ball has 4.61 g of carbs and 2.81 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 1.8 g.

For the dipped balls, each ball has 6.56 g of carbs and 4.34 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 2.22 g.

Nutritional Disclaimer

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program.I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them.I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.

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I think this is what I need for my 4PM sugar blues. Oh, and my low-carb, exercise-loving mom and step-dad are coming to France this week and I am going to be all over your website finding the perfect recipes for them. I plan to make the “turtle” (?) ice cream? Even though it’s September.

Hi Carolyn, I tried these last night and they don’t look as dark chocolate as yours. Mine show more shredded coconut. I did 1/4 butter and 1/4 coconut oil thinking that would give some good buttery flavor but when I put the egg in and started cooking the oil separated so I thought I did something wrong – did I? Plus I did not cook for the full 5 minutes since it separated. Anyway, I put the dry with the wet and mixed and it was very crumbly and it seemed like too much shredded coconut (hard to roll into ball). I’m not sure what I did wrong – I froze these anyway and will cover with chocolate today. I also used Stevia in the Raw instead of Swerve (but I don’t think that would have caused it to be so crumbly or separate.

Mine separated out as well, but once I added the dry ingredients, it all came together. So I am not sure what’s going on. I used Hershey’s Dark cocoa powder. Now, one question, what kind of almond flour did you use? That might be part of the issue. Mine easily came together into balls.

Made these yesterday and they were a huge hit! Love the simplicity (had everything in the pantry) and of course a no-bake is great! This is a great yummy recipe and I thank you Carolyn for once again hitting it out of the ballpark!

Tried these last night. Turned out pretty crumbly so I pressed into a pan and then cut. Also, these just weren’t sweet enough for me so I added a few drops of liquid sweetener to the batter. These definitely have more of an energy bar taste as opposed to a brownie taste.

Made these yesterday with chocolate protein powder instead of unflavored. For the walnuts I subbed chopped macadamia nuts in half the batch and cocoa nibs in the other half. Didn’t bother with chocolate coating. Love both versions!

These have become a staple in our low carb household. My husband used to live on the store bought bars but found out the sugar alcohol affects him. These bites are perfect for helping him get through his commute home and are great with coffee in the morning.

Which of your coconut oil-laden recipes are your favorites / go-tos? Two out of three of my aunts have Alzheimer’s, and I’d love to send them a variety of sugar-free, grain-free, coconut oil-rich goodies to see if they’re willing to eat “healthy” treats full of medium-chain trig’s instead of peanut M&Ms and other sugar-stuffed candies. I’m asking you because all your recipes taste as good as their unhealthy counterparts. =) Thx!

I just discovered “Energy Bites” and these are the second kind I’ve made and they are SOO good! I love dark chocolate. I didn’t read the directions very well for the heating part so my eggs went all chunky, but I just scooped them out and added more coconut oil and chocolate. Then I added honey for the sweetner. I didn’t have almond flour so I ground up almonds real fine. And for half the almond flour I added ground up Fiber One cereal to add fiber and I added chocolate protein powder. I decided to leave out the coconuts and nuts (this time) but I did add the coconut flour. It was moist but didn’t exactly want to ball up so I used a cookie dough scooper onto a cookie sheet with wax paper and stuck them in the freezer. Perfect! They are so good. I think you could do these a variety of ways and they’d be great! Mine turned out very dark.

Just made these and had to keep myself from eating that batter with a spoon! I used a little less coconut oil and added a tbsp of ghee for some extra healthy fats. I also used a plant based chocolate protein and hemp seed coating. Sooo yummy! I may even consider sharing with my hubby…

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Looking for the best low carb recipes? You've come to the right place! I'm Carolyn, a major carnivore and an unrepentant sweet tooth. Here you will find all you need to enjoy the low carb keto lifestyle to the fullest! Read more